


Enthralled

by narcissisticSpaghetti



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2013-05-18
Packaged: 2017-12-12 04:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/807354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narcissisticSpaghetti/pseuds/narcissisticSpaghetti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I really don't know how to summarize this... Karkat kicks Sollux out of their shared place for the night and Sollux ends up wandering around the next town over, and bumps into a tall painted man who takes him away to somewhere wonderful. Lots of  shenanigans, playful interactions, interesting relationships and This sounds a whole lot dumber than it actually is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enthralled

**Author's Note:**

> I really need a few beta-readers and editors, anything helps. I really don't know if I'd be able to continue this for long without some sort of help. I hope you like it though :)

“Sollux, I need you out of the house tonight.”

 You stare up at him, flabbergasted. He sounded so calm, he never sounded so calm. “But KK I have nowhere to go. You know I never leave this place unless AA drags me by the seat of my pants!”

 “Well then I’ll go call Aradia.” He turns away from you and heads toward the landline in the hall just outside your room. “I need you out tonight.”

 “No, no need for drastic measures! I’ll get lost! But only if you tell me why?” You follow him out of the room, peering out your bedroom door and down the hall as he stands just at the top of the stairs.

 He stares at you for a full ten seconds, gives you a deadpanned look and says: “Unless you want to hear me and my date talking, watching movies and then later fucking, you will get out of the fucking house tonight.” And then he looks down as he begins to descend to the first floor.

 “Wewt! KK’s finally getting laid!” You shout, jumping towards the stairs to catcall down them before he can move out of sight.

 “Go fuck yourself and get packing.” He says, flipping you off from around the corner.

 “When do you want me out?” You shout.

 “She arrives at two, get gone before one thirty.”

****

* * *

 

“AA?” You ask, holding the phone up to your ear with your shoulder as you grab a few overnight things and stuff them into the knapsack your aunt Hilma bought you a few years ago. “KK’s kicked me out of the house tonight ‘cause he’s got a date, and I have no idea what to do with myself today. And I got nowhere to stay.” You try and pour as much pitiable misery into your words in hopes of receiving an invitation to crash at her place.

 “Aww a date? Who with, do you know?”

 “No, he just told me to get lost. And I got nowhere to go.” you stress that again.

 “Well Sollux I’m sorry but I’m actually two states over for the weekend, I thought I told you! Mom’s got a new boyfriend and I’m in a taxi headed to her place to meet him!”

 “Well shit, now what am I supposed to do?” You can feel the disappointment pull at your mind, but you decide to ignore it.

 “Well, here’s an idea: Get on the train. Just get on the MAX and head out at least nine stops in any direction you feel like it. Maybe catch a bus too at some point. Just get lost, literally, and then use your fancy-schmancy ipad or whatever to find some cool stuff around wherever you end up! Leave it to fate!”

 You are silent for a few minutes, considering her words. On one hand, you really don’t like people. You don’t like the MAX, no matter how many times Karkat had dragged you to the theatre to watch a movie, you have never gotten used to the multitude of people. You like the bus even less, people are much closer in general and you usually have to talk to the driver when you get on.

 But with nothing else to do, you are seriously considering just doing as she said. What’s the harm? Worst case scenario, your habit of being inside too long has made your skin so sensitive to light that you burn like a vampire.

 And that is highly improbable so you really don’t have much to worry about.

 You still don’t want to.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

You get off the MAX nearly gasping in horror. There had easily been thirty people in that car and you had nearly had a heart attack; but you’d braved it as long as you could by keeping your nose in a JAVAscript textbook assigned to you by your computer science teacher a week ago. You’d read it a few years ago but you figured it wouldn’t hurt to review, especially if it distracted from the curious eyes that weren’t actually looking at you.

 You got off you don’t know how many stops later and nearly dropped to your knees in relief. You looked to be facing a park just across the other line with a fountain in the ground, and a few scattered benches among the bushes surrounding the little geysers.

 You wait a few minutes before getting up and wandering off in the direction of the bus stop a block and a half away. AA had said to find a bus stop, hadn’t she?

 As you got closer you realized it was a covered stop, and there was someone inside.

 He was sitting, but he still looked pretty tall. He looked to be almost as skinny as you, and from what you could see of him from behind was slightly darker skin and a horrifying mop of messy hair. You were pretty sure there were some unintentional dreadlocks in there, as well as any number of things that were capable of biting if you, for whatever reason, stuck your hand in there. Getting closer and rounding the stop, you looked down to avoid eye contact, but you did catch a glimpse of his face.

 Painted, covered in a white/pale grey pattern that obviously marked him as someone you really didn’t want to get involved with. But you were certain he’d already seen you so you didn’t want to run away. Silently, you knelt down just inside the stop and kept your nose between your knees.

 “What line did you want, motherfucker?” His voice made you jump, and you look up at him out of instinct. He has a nice look to him, maybe without all that face paint he looked okay. You probably looked more than a little confused because he repeated himself. “What bus are you waiting for?” He has a slight spanish accent, and you’re not sure why his voice makes you want to smile.

 “Uh,” you reply, glancing up at the sign near you. Two lines, the seventy and the eight. You have no idea where either goes so you make a split-second decision. “Seventy.”

 “Cool man, s’where I’m headed too.” He grins and looks out across the street at what looks like a mall. Cars pass by, and he doesn’t say anything more for a while.

 After a bit of silence you feel awkward, so you try and make some conversation start up.

 “You have any idea when the bus comes?” You ask quietly.

 “What did you say?” He asks, turning his head to angle his ear closer to you.

 “I asked if you knew when the bus was coming?”

 He chewed on his lip for a second, and then laughed. “No I don’t motherfucker, but you is welcome to up and check.” He points at the sign you’d looked at before.

 You get up and take a closer look at the sign, but there is no indication of timing. “How is this supposed to help?”

 His smile got slightly wider, and he pulled a cell phone from one of the pockets in his painted jeans. “Call up the bus, my friend.” He hit two buttons and then send, and held the phone out to you.

 You hesitantly held your hand out and he dropped it wordlessly into your waiting palm. It was cool against your skin. Raising it to your ear, you hear an awful little tone and then a voice that says “Trimet. Para espanol, oprima ocho.” You listen to the rest of the message before following instructions, and then infer the stop ID from the number on the sign: 4045. There was one 8 stopping before the seventy, but you finally get what you assume you want. “Line seventy, twelfth, NE 33rd avenue to Milwaukee, arriving in 22 minutes.”

 “Twenty two minutes.” You echo, loud enough for him to hear you as you hand the phone back to him. “My favorite number,”

 “You don’t say?” He smiles again, hitting the end call button and slipping the phone back into his pocket.

 “Yeah, I like even numbers, particularly twos.” You’re not sure where you got the urge to say that, but it’s harmless enough.

 “Nice. I happen to like the number seven.” he begins to hum, and you realize you recognize the tune. You don’t say anything, just letting him hum disney songs to himself.

 You sit in silence again for a time, perhaps not more than three or four minutes, until he scoots over to the side of the bench against the wall, and pats the now empty seat next to himself.

 You get up, and slowly make your way over to him. You only brought your knapsack, and you slip it off your shoulder to hold in your lap as you sit down. The seat is warm, and you immediately want to grin again. “Thanks,” you say quietly.

 You’d been sitting at the stop for maybe eight or nine minutes before a bus comes toward the stop, you see it from around him, just down the street, and you move to stand up.

 “Where are you all up and going, bro?” he asks, watching the bus come closer.

 “Getting on the bus.”

 He checks his phone again, and looks up at you. “It hasn’t been twenty two minutes, only nine. That’s the eight, man.”

 “Oh,” you drop next to him and the bus rushes past you both. He starts humming again soon after and this time you feel compelled to join him. So you do.

 The two of you hum disney songs until his bus comes.

 And when he stands up you marvel at how motherfucking tall he actually is. 6 foot 3 easy, and he’s got well-muscled arms. And a very nice ass if you do say so yourself.

 When you board, you are half hoping the bus will be empty, but instead there are people inside. Not nearly as many as on the max, but still people. He makes his way to the middle of the bus and sits down on the chairs facing the second door, and you follow close behind. You stand a few feet away for a moment, unsure whether or not to sit with him until he again pats the seat next to himself. You sit down gladly with a small sigh.

 After a good few minutes of silence he asks “Where you going if you don’t mind me asking?”

 “I have no idea, to be honest.” You let it slip out, you didn’t mean to. “I just need to wander around tonight. Roommate kicked me out.”

 “Aw man, what did you up and fucking do?” He looks concerned. You suddenly realize he hasn’t picked up on your faint lisp, and you’re suddenly grateful. You don’t know why it only just occured to you.

 “Nothing. He just has a date tonight.”

“What’s her name? Or his?”

“‘Her’ is what he told me, but I don’t know. I’m pretty convinced it’s Terezi though.” You purse your lips thinking. He and Terezi had been hanging out a lot lately, you figured that must be it.

 “Are you motherfucking jealous of your roommate, bro?” He asked, cutting into your thoughts.

 You didn’t really jump, though you imagine you normally would have. “No, not really. More jealous of him getting laid than the girl.”

 “Well there’s always the option of getting laid yourself,” he winks, and you feel your face light up with heat. He laughed, a deep throaty laugh that made you want to laugh too.

 “I’ve hardly known you half an hour and you’re making crude jokes like that?” You splutter, trying very hard not to giggle. He only shrugs and stops laughing, stretching his arms up into the air and bringing one down behind your seat. The other falls in his lap as he looks over your head towards the front of the bus.

 On your trip you pass a movie theatre, a few convenience stores, two schools and a dentists’ office before he finally moves to stand up. You only hesitate for a moment before getting up to follow him.

 “I hope you don’t mind if I follow you, I really don’t have anywhere to be until tomorrow.” You explain. He only nods over his shoulder at you, grinning that huge grin of his and towering over you. You have never hated being 5 foot 4 more than now.

****

“I have a friend who lives in this area, she has a few things for me.” Gamzee explains lazily as he walks away from the bus stop. “You’re welcome to join us if it suits a motherfucker.”

 You don’t say anything as you follow closely behind him. He smells of cinnamon. sweat, and mint toothpaste, an odd combination offset by the distinctive tang of a smoker. It’s not wholly unpleasant, for some reason, but you’re not sure why. You’ve never been a smoker, or fond of the smell. Your father had been a chain smoker when you were little and you had suffered some breathing problems in middle and high school before you moved out.

 It wasn’t long before he turned to the left, around the corner, and three houses later he turned again and headed up a beautiful driveway to a pretty little home with bricks everywhere, and a big beautiful garden out front. There was a fountain of a mostly nude woman covered in drapes in the center, and a million types of flowers scattered about in lovely colorful patterns.

 He hit the doorbell, humming along with the soft chime rhythm that sounded from inside.

 A young woman with skin a lovely shade of milky chocolate and dark reddish hair opened the door, her green eyes lighting up when she saw him. “Gamzee,” she greeted him warmly.

 “Hey sis, you look motherfucking lovely today.” He returned, leaning forward and kissing her full on the mouth.

 It took you a few seconds to process, and then you felt your face heat up and you looked away. You could feel a small pang in your gut, just under the surface of confusion, but what it was was unknown to you.

 “And who is this?” You heard her ask. Her voice was lovely, melodic even, and you looked up.

 “This motherfucker followed me from the mall.” Gamzee explained, patting you gently on the shoulder. You looked up at him and then to her, smiling awkwardly.

 “What is your name?” She asked, holding the door open and beckoning you both inside.

 “Sollux.” Gamzee went right in, moving around her and disappearing around the corner. “You’re going to invite a total stranger into your home?”

 “Gamzee seems to think you’re good people, therefore I trust you. He has fantastic taste in people, he has never associated with negative influences as long as I’ve known him. And we met in Middle school.” Her smile was soft, and you could see her shifting through her memories, but you didn’t care to bring it up.

 “Thank you,” you mumbled and slipped past her.

 Gamzee was sitting on the couch, his eyes closed as he bobbed his head to the music that floated from the radio just above the empty fireplace. It was a song you were not familiar with, but it sounded like something you’d like.

 Kanaya shut the door behind you and cupped her hands over her mouth. “Tavros!” She called, “Gamzee is here! And he brought a friend!”

 “Coming!” it didn’t take long for ‘Tavros’ to enter the room. He sat in a wheelchair, his lower half covered in a wool blanket. He had big amber eyes and short, spiky honey brown hair. “Gamzee!”

 “Tavbro! My main motherfucker! How have you been since I last set eyes on your beautiful face?” The tall man got up and immediately crouched over the brunette.

 “Fantastic!” He giggled, accepting the hug Gamzee offered. When Gamzee pulled away you were quite surprised to witness yet another unexpected(on your part) kiss. “But it’s only been three days! You are over here all the time!”

 “I guess you’re right Tavbro. But you know I all up and love getting my hang on with you two lovely motherfuckers.”

 The smaller giggled again, turning to see you. He gave you a bright grin and asked the same thing Kanaya had. “Who’s this?”

 “Uh, I’m Sollux.”

 “Motherfucker followed me. He’s chill.” Gamzee stood up and placed another hand on your shoulder as he passed, moving to sit down again where you’d found him before. This time he patted the seat next to him and you didn’t even hesitate to join him.

 Tavros situated himself across from the two of you, and you realized that Kanaya had disappeared. He noticed your confusion and pointed towards the doorway he’d come through. “She’s in the kitchen. She was making lunch when you showed up. You’re welcome to stay and eat if you like.”

 These people were so friendly and open, and it looked like they had a special little bond that you were already aware of, not being here ten minutes. They were trusting. And they were offering you food. “Thank you. If you don’t mind, that sounds nice.”

 The approving look Gamzee threw at you made your face warm up again, and you realized that Tavros had a very pleasant laugh.

****

They fed you French toast, eggs and bacon, and upon hearing that you didn’t have a place to stay, a room for the night. They didn’t even ask you to pay, though Kanaya said you’d need to help with some chores and do your own dishes. It was a great deal, and certainly unexpected, but you accepted with little hesitation.

 Kanaya offered you the use of the shower and you spent half an hour reveling in the scent of the shampoo she kept in there. You didn’t use very much, but a little goes a long way and you came out of the shower smelling like Rose petals and Cucumber instead of ozone and sticky buns. You decide that you liked your own scent better but this was a nice change for a day or so.

 You kind of miss Karkat. You are tempted to pull out your computer and message him, but you know he’s busy, so you don’t try to contact him just yet. You do however find yourself caught up in game after game of dominoes.

 You won three out of five rounds.

 By seven thirty you didn’t really expect four other people to enter the house, but they were just as friendly as Kanaya and Tavros.

 They introduced themselves as Vriska, Rose, Equius and Nepeta. Vriska was a little standoffish but still pleasant, Rose seemed to be Kanaya’s ‘partner’, Equius was rather quiet but hilarious because he replaced any swear words with unfortunate stand-ins like ‘goshdarned sillyface’ and used a lot of horse puns.

 Nepeta was asleep on Equius’ back when they got home, so you didn’t really get to meet her just yet. He had carried her straight upstairs and laid her to bed. Vriska described her as “Unbelievably energetic, obnoxious, and ditzy. Also she uses a lot of cat puns, those two go well together.”

 And the most shocking thing was that Vriska and Rose had each kissed Gamzee, Kanaya and Tavros when they entered. Equius had not, but he seemed to be a little less comfortable with social intimacy, yet still friendly. Rose kissed you on the cheek after you declined her offer of lips. She wasn’t the least bit offended which was nice.

 “So someone explain to me why there is a nerd with anaglyph glasses in our living room that I have never seen before.” Vriska demanded, but she didn’t sound offended, only curious.

 “Gamzee brought him over. He’s nice enough, and he’ll be using the spare room tonight.” Kanaya explained. She smiled at you and you felt compelled to smile back. You don't often like strangers, but here you were surrounded and you were more than comfortable. Gamzee’s arm behind you on the couch might have been part of it. He made you feel safe.

 “Hey Kan? Would you up and get your mind on if I stayed here tonight? Don’t motherfucking feel like getting on the bus tonight, you feel me?”

 “Of course Gamzee, you’re always welcome.” She laughed as the timer in the kitchen went off. “I’m making lasagna, would either of you like some?”

 “I’d motherucking love some! Sister’s got skills in the kitchen, you’ll love her lasagna!” He patted your shoulder and you feel your face heat up a fraction.

 “Ah. I’m nowhere near as kitchen-savvy as you are Gamzee. You will always be able to surpass even my great capabilities.” Kanaya winked at him over her shoulder as she left the room. You caught Rose staring at her backside as the left.

 “So you two are... dating?” You ask. You figure it’s best to get to know the situation before you get tangled too deep.

 “Engaged,” Rose says quietly, folding her hands in her lap and looking at you. “The date is on hold but we have exchanged rings.” She held up her hand to show off the pretty golden band inlaid with a few small diamonds.

 “Congratulations,” you feel like saying, and her smile warms. “How long have you two known each other?”

 “Eleven years. We met in Ninth Grade.”

 “How old are you?”

 “She’s twenty five and I am twenty six.”

 Tavros yelped from across the room as Vriska sat down in his lap, patting him on the head. You watch his cheeks flush as she kisses him, and decide to leave them to their moment.

 “Vriska is a bit of a basket case at times, but she is certainly a good person. She has a Goliath tarantula upstairs, and for some reason wants to buy a scorpion.”

 “An Emperor Scorpion! They glow in the dark!” Vriska threw over her shoulder, laughing as Tavros whined. “Don’t worry baby, they don’t sting if you treat them right.”

 “Are they... together?” You ask, referring to Vriska and Tavros.

 “Tavbro and Vriska have a little thing going on I guess you could call it.” This time Gamzee answered. “The two of them are pretty motherfucking close but I’m allowed in from time to time.”

 “You mean like, threeways?” You couldn’t help it, it fell out of your mouth and you instantly regretted it.

 “Yeah brother, shit’s pretty great sometimes.”

 The flush on your cheeks made Rose laugh, and Gamzee’s reassuring pat on the shoulder wasn’t so reassuring anymore. “Wow, I never would have guessed. So that explains you all kissing each other, but what about you and Kanaya?” You ask Rose. “When we entered you let GZ kiss you and when She came in you let VK. I’m confused.”

 “We have been living together in this house for near seven years now, and we have known each other longer. Vriska is a bit of a new addition but not by much. We are all very comfortable with each other and honestly it’s not that big a deal. We switch rooms often too.”

 Kanaya entered the room in a swirl of delicious scents and promptly sat down in Rose’s lap, snaking her arms around her neck and stealing a kiss. “Are you explaining our orgies to the newbie?” She asked tactlessly, and Gamzee laughed loudly next to you. You definitely felt your face heat up.

 “Yes you could say that, but I actually wasn’t there yet.”

 “Well then may I do the honors?”

 “I don’t think I want to hear it, thank you very much.” You shrink back into the couch, thoroughly embarrassed and you are absolutely certain your face is bright red.

 They laugh, a beautiful collection of happy sounds and they are so infectious you can’t help but join them.

 


End file.
